The horses were outfitted with enough food to last us five days, or a week if we made sure not to squander. Additionally they had some gear for setting up camp, a map and a sheath for a sword. Unlike the others’, my scabbard had a sword in it. How thoughtful of Thomas, providing a sword for the hunter turned guard that was me. I had considered buying a sword myself, if only to look the part of a guard besides my hunting bow, but had rejected the idea when I found some longer knives on the guys who wouldn’t be needing them anymore.
Once we left town and had trotted for a while in a generally western direction, it became frighteningly obvious that the guard, Alex, was awkwardly inexperienced when it came to riding. She had taken off her helmet, and most of the plate armor, leaving her in a single layer of leathery travel clothes. The plate was strapped to the sides of the horse, and I was questioning the purpose of bringing it at all. Eric certainly wasn’t bringing any, and he would probably need it. Maybe he would wear her armor? From the mood, I would doubt it.
The two were sharing a bubbly atmosphere, chatting with the occasional laugh, despite Alex’s strained and forced movements from riding. Eric wasn’t one to ignore this, as he soon called for a stop, mere hours out from Brill. In fact, I could still see the city, as we were still on the plain between the northern and the southern forest. This area, in which Brill was located, was called the Conqueror’s plain, because of a great battle with the demons that had been fought and won by the human empire.
We stopped for some water and food, although to be honest, we could consume while on horsebacks at a standstill to spare us from dismounting. However, stopping for the reason of allowing Alex some time to stretch out and limber up was a good thing in the long run, which this was quickly turning out to be. In fact, at our current pace, we would arrive at the capital in around ten or so days. Food would need to come from other sources than just the dried and salted meat we brought. So, as night descended, I would use my bow to hunt for some rabbits, while at the same time allowing the two some privacy before dinner.
Out hunting, I used my spirit to locate prey. I encountered several larger animals such as different types of deer and the occasional moose. These, however, would be impractical to bring with on the journey, and leaving parts behind was wasteful. Though, honestly, I did not want to drag in large prey, as Eric would maybe feel like the lesser man in front of Alex, and join me on hunting. Honestly, the time spent hunting might become important for my mood, as it was my only time away from their little bubble of happiness.
Returning to camp, I found the two using their swords to a spar. Unlike in the fight between me and Eric, he was now swinging a real sword, and was obviously more practiced at it as he handled the weight and balance well. Perhaps there was some truth to the words he spoke before we left Brill? Alex, on the other hand, showed a different kind of strength to the one demonstrated by Eric. Her strikes were swift and precise where Eric’s were hard and impulsive. She also preferred thrusting to slashes, and made use of this in a limited fashion during their spar. In my opinion she should strike away at Eric, stabbing him would be inconsequential. With Eric’s talent for impulsive life magic, he’d probably heal out of any single wound she could inflict. Not out of pure skill, but because he’d likely feel bad about letting her feel bad about injuring the man she was sent to protect. Oh youth, how stupid.
For dinner we had a mixture of the rabbit meat I brought, grilled on open fire, and the supplies we brought. The idea onwards was to supplement our dinners largely with whatever we could find, hunt or possibly even buy from traders along the way. As night descended we took turns sleeping and sitting guard. We all had our sleeping blankets laid out on the same side of the put out campfire; Eric was lying between me and Alex. This made sense, as we were his guards, but from his attitude it felt more like he was protecting her from me. In whispers, Eric even offered to take Alex’s guard shift. Not a bad idea in principle, as she was the one slowing us down the most. However I believe he was hurting her pride as a warrior far too much, as he was given silent treatment for breakfast the next day.
After the meal, we continued riding at a trot, heading out of the forest and into a belt of forest that ran between the one to the north and the one to the south of the Conqueror’s plain. Because of this the trees were a strange of the two types of trees, the pines from the south and birches from the north. Though the southern forest only had one dominant type of tree, the pine, this did not hold true for the one to the north. It had several different types of trees, but one type was unique, and that was the birch. In the northern forest the birches had thick trunks and branches, huge amounts of leaves and were further apart from each other, evenly spaced out throughout the entire forest. The birches here however were regular sized ones, growing so tightly in parts it was nearly impossible to walk past.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
We were using a central path that cut through the forest, called Quiet pass, after this part of the forest, Quiet woods. The path was wide enough for the three of us to ride side my side, and again Eric was between me and Alex. They were not having the same bubbly talk as yesterday, however Alex had broken her silent treatment and they were having stiff and awkward attempts at conversation. Luckily for them, that was interrupted as an arrow whistled through the air and sank into Eric’s horse.
People dressed like bandits had appeared from both sides of the path, brandishing varying types of weaponry. Some of them obviously had bows, others had swords and some even had a combination of the two. Most of the were wearing a form of travelling gear, a leather outfit shaped like plate armor, though there were odd bits of metal gear here and there. The man with the most amount of metal armor smiled as he spoke up:
“Surrender yourselves and this sordid affair can end painlessly!” Though his message was clear, it was in vain. Eric, who was on the ground beside his bleeding horse had already unsheathed his sword and begun charging the left side of the bandits. The brat probably chose that side as it was Alex’s side.
I reached for my bow. I could honestly care less for Eric and Alex, but if either were injured by arrows our journey would take even longer and we could risk missing the tournament. Bow in hand, I aimed at whomever was targeting Alex, then those aiming for Eric. If Eric got hit he’d just heal up, really why did Thomas allow Alex to join? Was he messing with me too? What a horrible man.
The few arrows that were sent my way I dodged, grabbed midair and stored. My own arrows were self-made, and I could use the upgrade. Because I was using my life magic to boost my speed, soon there were no archers left besides me. I focused my attention to the duo, who was handling things well against their disheveled foes. Eric’s enhanced strikes cleaved way through waves of bandits with vigor, and he was going out of his way to reduce Alex’s number of combatants. She was using a combination of parries, dodges and counterattacks to safely rather than swiftly dispatch of the thieves.
When the right side saw the overwhelming losses on the left side, their leader ordered them to retreat, leaving the left side disorganized and demoralized. Those left were quickly cut down. While Eric was looking at his horse’s condition, I was rifling through the pockets of the deceased, keeping gold and replacing my arrows. After he had patched up the horse, It was clear it could no longer continue, as we had no way or knowledge of treatment of whatever was bothering it. Eric therefore insisted on taking the reins of Alex’s horse, allowing her to sit behind him. She protested, and Eric was good not to mention their master-subordinate relationship as he argued he would be the faster rider. Eventually Alex gave in and we continued our journey.
The forest path had several smaller paths leading out from it, some signposted as directions to villages, and some not signposted. At nights we made camp along these paths, still keeping the same sleeping arrangement as we did on the plains. It was clear that Alex was getting a lot of built up frustration from being helped out and bested by Eric in almost every action, but after a couple of days their bubbly conversations returned.
It took the better part of a week, but when we finally exited the Quiet woods we could see farms and crops on a long, wide and hilly plain with a central dusty path leading up to tall walls in the distance. It was only a matter of time now, probably two days.